Abolitionist Law Center: Paralegal/ Legal Assistant

Position Overview

The Abolitionist Law Center (ALC) is hiring a full-time paralegal/legal assistant for our Pittsburgh office. The ALC paralegal works with our legal department in litigation, investigation, and research tasks, communicating with incarcerated clients, managing case files, and managing intake correspondence. This is a full time, in-person, Pittsburgh based position. The paralegal will work with incarcerated clients and their communities and advocates to challenge state violence in all its forms and contribute to building powerful movements for liberation.

Responsibilities

• Work collaboratively with ALC attorneys on litigation-related tasks, including drafting correspondence, organizing, managing, and reviewing discovery; conducting research; managing case files in a database; assisting with filings, preparation for court proceedings, and document requests; assisting with client communication; and a variety of other litigation support tasks.
• Manage large volume of physical mail and email correspondence regarding difficult circumstances of incarcerated people. This includes reading, tracking, scanning, writing, sending, and storing physical mail.
• Conduct visits and calls with clients and potential clients who are incarcerated.
• Assist in investigations of conditions of confinement in jails and prisons in Pennsylvania, including developing and maintaining relationships with potential clients, witnesses, organizers, and community partners; preparing and managing record requests.
• Attend weekly staff meetings, providing feedback to leadership and staff to improve organizational effectiveness.
• Other duties and special projects as needed.
• Some travel within the state of Pennsylvania may be required.

Requirements

• Commitment to an abolitionist and movement-lawyering approach that seeks to replace punitive justice with healing justice, promotes decarceration and the elimination of the use of jails and prisons to deal with social problems, and centers the political agency and organizing activity of those individuals and communities most impacted by the criminal legal system.
• Exceptional organizational skills, capable of maintaining voluminous electronic and physical case and correspondence files.
• Proficiency in using or ability to learn Microsoft Word, Excel, and Sharepoint, Google Mail, Docs and Sheets, Adobe Acrobat, and legal case management software.
• Able to track, organize, and respond to a large amount of correspondence.
• Excellent writing ability, communication, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to conduct legal research on an as needed basis.

Compensation

This position will be based in ALC’s Pittsburgh office. This is a full-time position with a starting salary of $55,000 per year. Benefits include employer-sponsored medical, dental and vision insurance options (premium 100% covered by organization), options for traditional 401k and Medical Flexible Spending Account, and 280 hours of paid time off annually.

Application Process

Please send your resume, three professional references, and a detailed cover letter explaining your interest in the position as a single PDF to hiring@alcenter.org. We ask that applications be submitted by July 18, 2024  to receive full consideration.

Abolitionist Law Center is an equal opportunity employer. People of color, women, LGBTQI-GNC people, and formerly incarcerated people are strongly encouraged to apply.

Statistics show that people from structurally marginalized communities are less likely to apply if they feel they do not meet 100% of the requirements. If you have a strong feeling that you are right for this position, no matter who you are, we strongly encourage your application.